Bale-tie-forming machine.



A. T. SHOWALTER.

BALE TIE FQRMING MACHINE. APPLIUATION FILED JULY 11, 1912.

1,046,66 1 4 APateredl Dec. 10, 1912.`

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1` A. T. SHOWALTBR. BALB TIE PORMING MACHINE.

APPLIGATION FILED JULY 11, 1912'. v

Patented Deo. 10, 1,912.

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65 6 Z? 5/ Y I 7 y NN.

Al/Urney I/V NESSS //w, v Q.. H I] u AMOS T. SHOWALTER, 0F HAGERSTOWN, MARYLAND.

BALE-TIE-FORMING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 10, 19,12.

Application l-ed July 11, 1912. Serial No. 708,769.

To all whom it may' concern:

Be it known that I, AMos T. SHowALTnR, a citizen of the United States, residing' at Hagerstown, in the county of Vashingto'n and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bale- Tie-Forming Machines, of which the following is a specication.

The present invention relates to a machine for forming bale ties by cutting a continu-- ous strand of wire into sections of su-itable lengths and providing an eye upon one end of each section, whereby the two ends of the section may be quickly tied together.

An important object of this invent-ion is to provide a machine of the above mentioned character, which is continuous, expeditious., and automatic in operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a machine of the above mentioned character, which is simple in construction, cheap to manufacture, and easy to operate^ Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specilication and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same, Figure 1 is a plan view of the machine, Fig. 2 is a side view of one of the cutting means, Fig. 3 is a side view of the machine, the rotating arm or support being arranged at right angles to the stationary track, Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig 3 and taken at a. right angle to the same, the rotatable arm or support having one end thereof disposed near and spaced from the stationary track, Fig. 5 is a side view of retarding means for controlling the feed of the wire, and, Fig. 6is a detail section through means to prevent the improper rotation of holding and twisting elements.

In the drawings wherein, for the purpose of illustration, I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral 6 designates a horizontal base, upon which is rigidly mounted an upstanding central bearing 7, having a vertical rotatable shaft 8 journ'al'ed therein.

The numeral 7 designates an upper bearing for holding the upper end of the rotatable shaft 8. The bearing 7 is supported by legs 8. Rigidly connected with the vertical shaft 8 is a sprocket wheel 9, engaged by a. sprocket chain 10, which ext-ends laterally to engage a sprocket wheel 11. This sprocket wheel 11 is driven by a bevel gear 12, which in turn is driven by a bevel gear 13. Bevel gear 13 is shown as driven by a motor 14.

It is to be understood that the means shown for rotating the shaft 8 are employed to illustrate one way in which said shaft may be rotated and that any other suitable means may just as well be used.

Rigidly connected with the upper end of the shaft 8 is a preferably horizontal movable or rotatable arm or support, 15, to the ends of which are rigidly connected upstand`ing brackets or bearings 16 and .17, which are forked at their upper ends to receive rollers 18, as shown.

The numeral 19 designates upstanding bearings which are rigidly connected with the arm or support 15 inwardly of and near the bea-rings 16 and 17, as shown. Journaled through these bearings are horizontal wire holding and twisting elements or hooks 20. These elements 20 have inner hook ends 21 and are free to rotate with relation to the arm 15 but cannot partake of perceptible longitudinal movement with relation thereto. Rigidly connected with the outer ends of the elements 20 are pinions 22, adapted to be moved into engagement with a curved lrackbar track 23, which is attached to ahorizontal support 24. The support 24 is held in its proper position by posts 25 or the likev Rigidly connected with the horizontal suph port 24 are upstanding brackets 26, the upper ends of which overhang the rack-bar tra-cit 23 and have connection with a curved guide track 27, which is engaged by the rollers 18. It is thus seen that the rollers 18 and the guide track 27 serve to positively prevent the pinions 22 from moving upwardly out of engagement with the rack-bar track 23,

- after the same have moved into engagement therewith. The pinions. 22 are rotated when traveling in engagement with the rack-bar track 23, whereby the elements 20 are accordingly rotated. Before and after the pinion 22 has traveled intoengagement with the rack-bar track 23, the holding and twisting element 20 assumes a position so that the hook endI 21 thereof will be vertically disposed. In order that the pinion 22 may not be improperly rotated when not in engagement with the rack-bar track 23, whereby the hook end 21 will be moved out of its vertical position, I provide a reciprocatory catch4 20, disposed near and below each of I24a, which surrounds the reciprocatory catch '20 and has one end thereof in engagement with the bearing 19 and its opposite end in' engagement with a ring 23a, which is rigidly attached to the reciprocatory catch 20a. The spring 24a is of suiiicient stiffness to prevent the accident-al rotation of the pinion 22, but does not prevent said pinion being rotated when it engages the rack-bar track 23, as the spring 24a will then yield when the pinion 22 is rotated, since the outer end of the catch 20a is tapered, as above eX- plained.

. The numeral 28 designates a continuous strand of wire or the like, which is fed from a spool (not shown) of the same, and which is to be cut into sections of the desired length. Disposed opposite the rack-bar track 23 is an upstanding substantially inverted V-shaped bracket 29, pro-vided in its upper end with openings 30, through which is passed the wire. Connected with the bracket 29 is a housing 31, within which is pivotally mounted an element or finger 32, which is adapted to clamp the wire against the upper end of the bracket 29, to retard or prevent the feeding movement of the wire. Connected with the lower end of the finger 32'is a retractile coil spring 33, which normally holds said finger 32 in a position so that it will not prevent the free feeding movement of the wire. The finger 32 is swung in an opposite direction to clamp the wire against the upper end of the bracket 29 to retard the feeding movement thereof by a vertically inclined inwardly extending arm or rod 34, which is connected with the upper end of the finger 32. When one end of the` arm 15 is moved abo-ve and into engagement with the arm or rod 34, it swings the free end thereof downwardly and causes the finger 32 to have clamping engagement with the wire 28 to retard the feeding movement thereof. It is thus seen that automatically operated means are provided to retard the feeding movement of the wire. The strand of wire 28 is now passed through a stationary guide 35, which is mounted upon the upper end of the stationary vertical post 36, which is disposed near and spaced from one side of the bracket 29, as shown.

I provide means lto thread the wire 28 into the hook ends 21 of the wire holding and twisting elements 20, during the continuous operation of the arm or support 15. Such means include upstanding rods 37, which are rigidly mounted upon the arm or support 15, as shown at 38. The rods 37 are curved longitudinally in a vertical plane upwardly and downwardly and are also laterally curved or inclined in opposite directions, as best shown in Fig. 1. The free ends of these curved or hook-like rods 37 are disposed near the inner hook ends 21 of the elements 20. It is thus seen that as each of the rods 37 is moved into engagement with the section 39 of the wire 28, the wire will be guided or threaded by the rod 37 into the hook end 21 of the element 20. ln this manner the wire is automatically threaded into the hook ends 21 of the elements 20 during the continuous rotation of the arm or support 15.

Disposed inwardly of and near the wire holding and twisting elements 2O are cutting means including pivoted cutters 40 having extensions 40, which are disposed upon opposite sides of the arm or support 15 and are swung in opposite directions with relation to each other to cut the wire. As clearly shown in Fig. 2, each of the cutters 40 is pivotally connected with a cov-acting cutter 41, as shown at 42. That portion of Y pinion 22 has disengaged said track, as more f clearly illustrated in Fig. 1. Connected with the lower end of each extension 40 is a retractile coilspring 44, the upper end of which is attached to the arm 15. This spring serves to normally hold the cutter 40 in its inoperative position so that the wire may befed between the same and the coacting cutter 41. Attention is called to the fact that when the section 39 of the wire is guided or threaded into the hook end 21 of the element 20, there is formed a section 45 of the wire, which has one end portion disposed between the cutters 40 and 41, whereby this portion of the wire will be cut when cutter 40 is moved by `the trip 43. right end portion of section 39 which is adjacent the right end of section 45, engages behind the cutter 40, as shown, and is not cut but has an eye formedthereon by the ro- The l tation of the element 20. After the pinion l 22 has traveled the entire length of the rackbar trackv 23, this eye is formed, and when the pinion 22 disengages the track, the section 45 of the wire is cut. At a little before the time that ithe trip 43 moves the H cutter 40, the arm l5 engages the rod 34,

to swing the finger 32, whereby the feeding movement of the wire 28 is ret-arded. This puts the sections 39 and 45 of the wire, under tension. The section 45 thus being under tension and engaging the cutter 40 Yof the wire which is adjacent this eye being arranged in engagement with the back of the cutter 40. The shaft 8 is now rotated. Ihen the element 20 moves into proximity to the section 39 of the wire, the curved rod 37 will thread the same into the hook end 21 of the element 20. The right end of section 45 is arranged between the cutters 40 and 41 while the right end of section 39 engages the back of the cutter. The pinion 22 is now moved into engagement with the rack-bar track 23, whereby the element 20 is rotated and an eye is formed or twisted upon the right end of section 39. When the pinion 22 disengages the rack-bar track, the stationary guide 43 swings the cutter 40, whereby the right end of section 45 is cut and said section 45 with the eye formed upon one end thereof, will automatically ump off of the arm 15 and out of the hook end 21. The automatic springing or jumping of the section 45 is due to the fact that this section is under tension, as hereinabove eX- plained. The operation of the machine is continuous and automatic. Attention is called to the fact that when the pinion 22 has traveled the entire length of the rackbar track 23, and is moved out of engagement therewith, the hook end 21 of the element 20 will be vertically disposed. The spring 24a will now force the reciprocatory catch 2Oil into the opening 22a, whereby said pinion is prevented from being rotated until it again engages the rack-bar track 23. The catch 2O@L does notprevent the track 23 from rotating the element 20 when the pinion 22 travels in engagement with said track.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that certain changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:-

1. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a support, of a rotatable arm mounted upon the same,

wire holding and twisting elements mounted upon the rotatable arm near the ends thereof, means to rotate the wire holding and twisting elements during the rotation of the arm, wire cutting means disposed near the wire holding and twisting elements, means to operate the wire cutting means during the rotation of the arm, means to guide the wire into engagement with said wire holding and twist-ing elements, and means to rotate the arm.

2. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a supporting structure, of a rotatable support mounte upon the same, wire holding and twisting elements mounted upon the rotatable support near the ends thereof, means to rot-ate the wire holding and twisting elements during the rotation of the support, wire cutting means disposed near the wire holding and twisting elements, means to operate the wire cutting means during the rotation of the support, means to guide the wire into engagement with said wire holding and twist-ing elements, means to rotate the support, and means to retard the feeding movement of the wire when the support assumes a certain position.

3. In a machine of the character described, a rotatable arm, wire holding and twisting elements mounted upon the rotatable arm and extending longitudinally thereof, means to rotate said elements with relation to the arm during the rotation of said arm, wire threading means mounted upon the arm and disposed near said elements, wire cutting means mounted upon the arm and disposed near said elements, means to operate the wire cutting means during the rotation of the arm, and means automatically operated by said arm to retard the feeding movement of the wire when the arm assumes a certain position.

4. In a machine of the character described, a movable support, spaced wire holding and twisting elements connected with the movable support and movable with relation thereto, means to move the wire holding and twisting elements with relation to said support during the movement of said support, wire threading means to conduct the wire into engagement with the wire holding and twisting elements, wire cutting means, means to operate the wire cutting means during the movement of said support, and clamping means automatically operated by the movable support to retard the feeding movement of the wire.

5. In a machine of the character described, a supporting structure, a rotatable support mounted thereon, wire holding and twisting elements mounted upon the rotatable support to rotate with relation thereto, means to rotate the rotatable support, means lto rotate the wire holding and twisting elements during the rotation of said rotatable support, wire guide elements attached to the rotatable support for movement therewith and arranged near the wire holding and twisting elements, a stationary wire guide element mounted upon the supporting structure to hold the wire so that a portion thereof will be successively engaged by the wire guide elements attached to the rotatable support, and means to cut the wire during the movement of the rotatable support.

6. In a machine of the character described, a supporting structure, a rotatable support mounted thereon7 wire holding and twisting elements mounted upon the rotatable support to rotate with relation thereto, means to rotate the rotatable support, means to rotate the wire holding and twisting ele-I ments during the rotation of said rotatable support, curved wire guide elements attached to the rotatable support near the wire holding and twisting elements and having their free ends extending in opposite directions, a relatively stationary wire guide mounted upon the supporting structure to hold the wire so that a portion thereof will be suc-j cessively engaged by the wire guide elements attached to the rotatable support, and means to cut the wire during the movement of the rotatable support.

7 In a machine of the character described, a supporting structure, a rotatable support, wire holding and twisting elements mounted upon the rotatable support to rotate with relation thereto, means to rotate said rotatable support, means to rotate the wire holding and twisting elements, means to guide the wire to the wire holding and twisting elements, cutting devices mounted upon the rotatable support near the wire holding and twisting elements and including pivoted cutting elements, and a stationary trip to move the pivoted cutting elements during the movement of the rotatable support.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of -two witnesses.

AMOS T. SHOWALTER.

Gopes of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Washington, D. C.

Commissioner of Patents, 

